It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over
Ratings20
Average rating3.8
It lasts forever and then (you think) it's over (but it never really is, is it? “The space between me and me, is you”)
4.5 rounded up;
I continue west. I know you will not be there in the dunes. Except I will be there. I will be there and through me you will be there. I think, if I am in the place where we were together, then we are together again.
Our undead narrator navigates her journey between life and death, aiming for a place she recalls, despite the hiccups and challenges in between. With the first line being “I lost my left arm today,” perhaps it can be taken comically or shocking. But as we follow her travels, we realize that she is reminiscent of the life she once lived, the places she's been, the memories with her lover that leads her west.
It is not so much of a zombie book, but an individual's journey who searches for meaning, navigating yearning and existence.
this is the kind of book i felt more than i understood. i felt the grief, the sinking, and the longing all through the haze of the dreamy prose. i'm completely exhausted as i type this but i think that's actually perfect for the type of book this is. maybe i miss someone or something too
overall i definitely need to read again to fully take everything in but this was great either way woooo
I don't usually write reviews with my star ratings but I loved this book so deeply I had to rave a bit about it. I was hooked from the opening paragraphs, which are about the best opening paragraphs to a work that I have read in recent memory. The author immediately places you in a world that is both strange and unsettling, and yet familiar.
It Lasts Forever and Then Its Over is only ostensibly a zombie story. There are zombies and the protagonist is a zombie, and yet these are really only a lens through which to observe loss and grief, and question the concepts of endings and beginnings. It is these human elements that are the core of the novel and the considerable emotional impact of the story is strengthened through its nonhuman framing, allowing the reader to see the familiar with new eyes.
The writing is beautiful, both spare and at times, dense and philosophical. Both atmospheric and unsettling, and grounded deeply on the same ground we walk upon.
It Lasts Forever and Then Its Over is ironically a short novel that could be read in a day, but I knew immediately after the last page that I would read it again at least once to delve deeper into its meaning and imagery. The book is like a powerful film that has left me thinking about it days after viewing.